diff --git a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/variant/VCFview.java b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/variant/VCFview.java
index f0805fa2fb4af85721886656b756cbc7f32092bf..8c1c03d94c10e3a7aebb4e8be0657096c675064c 100644
--- a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/variant/VCFview.java
+++ b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/variant/VCFview.java
@@ -736,8 +736,7 @@ public class VCFview extends JPanel
     {
       if(IOUtils.isBCF(fileName))
       {
-        fileName = testForURL(fileName, true);
-        vcfReaders[index] = new BCFReader(new File(fileName));
+        vcfReaders[index] = new BCFReader(fileName);
   
         String hdr = ((BCFReader)vcfReaders[index]).headerToString();
         if(hdr.indexOf("VCFv4") > -1)